Prothero notes that at their best, the denominations that had long sustained memberships offered different visions of the good life. “Absent a chain of memory that ties us to these religions’ ancient truths, these visions are lost, and we are left to our own devices, searching for God with as much confusion, as we search, in love, for the next new thing.”

Do not be afraid; for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people; to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke, 2:10-11.

When I was a little girl, I loved the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. From one of these stories, I learned my first bedtime prayer:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord, my soul to keep,
If I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

Well. That’ll keep a kid up all night.

Welcome to Cop15, the UN Conference on Global Warming being held in Copenhagen. Denmark is not easy to forget. In the first place, every school child knows the tales of fearless, seafaring Danes. In the second place,every traveler remembers Copenhagen as the city of $20.00 hamburgers and $40.00 seven minute taxi cab fares. Copenhagen is, in fact, the second most expensive city in the world, just slightly less expensive to live in than Oslo. But that will be nothing compared to the price the world pays for this conference.

. . . blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord. Luke 1:45.

One of the first things I learned about pastoral care was to be very, very careful about making promises. The few times I did, it seemed like everything in my life conspired to make me break them. Better to be vague-I’ll see you next time-than to promise someone who’s lonely, or sick, or depressed that you’ll be back tomorrow, then stand them up because the water heater blew up or the car won’t start. And for the dying woman, even the off-hand “see you soon” has the weight of a sworn oath. Do you really want her to linger in suffering to fulfill your expectations of a “next time”?

As we prepare for the arrival of Emmanuel–God-with-us–we also prepare for a transition in our life together at Holy Trinity. I want to share with you some of the details–what January (and beyond) will look like when Fr. Paul begins his full-time position serving the diocese as congregational developer.

Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Luke 3:8.

I finally figured out why I like John the Baptist. You don’t have to wonder where you stand. He doesn’t call a spade, a spade. He calls it a damn shovel. As abrasive and unpleasant as John can be, he’s nothing if not direct. Yet, all that honesty can be exhausting. Here we are, halfway through Advent, still being chastised by a crazy guy in animal skins. Could we get to the Good News already?

For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low and the valleys filled up, to make level ground, so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God. Baruch, ch.5

When working around the church I often gravitate toward tough, hands-on projects, and while working on those projects I often joke about how nice it is to do hard, ‘measurable’ work — to actually accomplish something — because somehow the difficulty of the work and the ability to measure my achievements seems to give the work some special meaning and value. Perhaps this sounds familiar to you. It’s the water we’re all swimming in — anything of value must necessarily be difficult to achieve.

as you may know, Advent is the first season of the church’s new year. you’ll notice that the seasonal colors have changed from summer’s green to advent’s royal blue, and you’ll note that the season takes on the broad themes of hope and expectation, as we await the arrival of our new King on Christmas day.

mark your calendar today for this year’s special christmas worship services!

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Jeremiah 33:14

for all our high-brow efforts to complicate Christianity and its core beliefs and practices, it all comes down to something very simple — do we trust God?

One who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God, is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land. 2 Samuel, ch.23

We come this week to Christ the King Sunday — the transition point between the long, ‘ordinary’ season of Pentecost and the short, extraordinary season of Advent, during which we prepare to receive this ‘Christ the King’ character. We’re reminded again on this same Sunday each year that the King we’re preparing to receive is no small beans, no slouch — not simply a personal cheerleader or confidant — but is the hope of the world, the light in the darkness, the judge of the strong and defender of the weak — he is the King of all creation who lays claim to the life of every living thing, calling each to the purpose for which it was created — in good order and perfect peace.

this past weekend my family read through this year’s ‘Gifts for Life’ magazine from Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD), and my son, Isaac, was instantly captivated by the thought that he could buy a $12 mosquito net that would help to save the life of someone he’s never met who lives half-way around the world.

as the church slides through the end of pentecost’s ‘ordinary time’ and into what is always the very extraordinary time of advent, i ask folks to pay particular attention to ways to get involved during this time.

Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” Mark, ch.13

no doubt about it — the times are changing. most obviously, we’re moving quickly from fall into winter — the leaves are down, the temps are down, and the sun is, mostly, down. less obvious, perhaps, is the change from one season to the next in the life of the church — in many places numbers are down, giving is down, and enthusiasm is, generally, down. and while we often do our best to look for external excuses for our poor showing, author alan hirsch suggests the church is simply “perfectly built to do just what we’re doing today.” so what is that supposed to mean?

annual pledge cards are available this week at the church, along with a cover letter from the vicar and a draft 2010 mission budget.

the good work we do at holy trinity requires pledge income from the ht community so we’re able to draft a realistic budget, which both commits us to the mission God has laid out before us and also helps us to hold ourselves accountable to meet our goals and fulfill our obligations to God and to our neighbors.